Around the Yard Archives, from 2010

Monday, July 16, 2012

Another Andretti Win

Yes, this was a bye week on the IndyCar circuit, but that didn't prevent a major victory -- albeit off the track -- for the newest member of the Andretti team.

James Hinchcliffe, the cheeky and charismatic Canadian who replaced Danica Patrick in the GoDaddy car, began a grass roots campaign to usurp the cover girl from GoDaddy's homepage shortly thereafter.

This race was not conducted on an oval or street course. It started on Twitter ("Hinch for Homepage") and was embraced by not only the Andretti team (who produced some campaign videos for his homepage) but eventually by GoDaddy as well.

In fact, a national ad campaign revolved around the rivalry between the young upstart and the glamorous face of those fetching Super Bowl ads.

While this may seem like a somewhat frivolous diversion from the high stakes world of professional motorsports, consider that GoDaddy, the Internet domain giant, has one of the top-visited websites in the world. So what started out as essentially a prank became a full-blown campaign for supremacy in the IndyCar vs. NASCAR ranks.

Of course, no one knows who was keeping score or even if such things are measured. But in the quest for eyeballs, GoDaddy was clearly a winner.

As for the irrepressible Hinchcliffe (seen here in various campaign appearances) he was rewarded with an unannounced appearance on the GoDaddy homepage last week. The company said they were impressed with his drive and passion. (They probably also appreciated the additional traffic his quixotic efforts drove to their site.)

James Hinchcliffe is one of those faces we look forward to seeing here Labor Day weekend. Despite getting swallowed by a pothole in Detroit and losing an engine in Toronto, the 2011 Rookie of the Year is having a good season with two podium finishes.

He's already proven to be a popular addition to the circuit and an asset to the Andretti team.